Smart Calls-to-Action for Fitness Websites

Once you have a website set up for your fitness business, what happens next? How do we turn your website visitors into prospects and paying members?

First, your website needs to have a goal. Think about what you want your website visitors to do once they land on your website. What primary action do you want your website visitors to take?

One example of a website goal might be getting new visitors to contact you so that you can provide them with more information about your services. Another goal could be targeting new members and getting them signed up for a free trial offer. Or maybe you want current members to sign up for a monthly membership.

Once you have a clear objective of how you want your website visitors to act, the next step is letting your website visitors know as well. And the way you communicate what you want your website visitors to do while on your website is through a call-to-action (CTA).

What is a Call-to-Action and Why is it Important?

Your website might have great traffic, but without some type of guidance, people may hang out for a bit and then leave. Without doing anything. No sign-ups. No free trials. No new prospects.

Why did they leave?

Because we didn’t give these visitors anything to do.

A call-to-action tells people where to click on your website. It gives people direction on what to do, and it lets you to guide them along a virtual path to your website goal.

Recommendations for Fitness Website CTAs

Here are a few suggestions for smart calls-to-action on your website.

1). Be Specific

Use text that clearly describes what you want your website visitor to do. Let’s say the information on your About Us web page outlines who you are and what your business is all about. And it’s great content, but at the bottom of your description, you’ve included a link that says “Click Here” to contact you.

“Click Here” might seem like a good option for a call-to-action, but unfortunately it is too vague. Visitors aren’t sure where they’re headed when they click, so they may not click at all.

Using detailed language like “Get Started On Your Fitness Goals” is much more specific. Plus, using this more original and creative text makes your website stand out from the other websites still using “Click Here.”

2). Keep it Simple

A complicated call-to-action may discourage someone from clicking.

Let’s say you want someone to fill out a form to submit their contact information. It would be nice to learn as much as you can about this person, but including too many fields can cause someone to lose motivation to complete your form.

Keep your fields to a minimum – name, email, phone number. Once you have contacted your prospect, then you can ask about fitness goals, past workout history, program of interest, etc.

3). Make it Visible

Each page of your website should have a call-to-action. Place your calls-to-action prominently on your website.

This includes locations that website visitors would naturally be ready to take action, such as the top and the bottom of your web pages.

Another way to make your CTAs more visible is to choose a color or font size that helps a button or link stand out from the rest of the page.

4). Reduce Risk

For someone brand new to your business, a call-to-action that reduces any risk to a prospect can yield positive results. Someone may not be quite ready to commit to a membership, but the idea of a free trial could be intriguing.

If you offer a free trial to prospective members, instead of “Sign Up” use a friendly, risk-free call-to-action like “Try A Free Class On Us.”

5). Give Small Changes Time

Once you’ve started adding new CTAs or making changes to your existing CTAs, give these updates some time to do their job. If after a few weeks, you’re not convinced your call-to-action is working well, start by making small changes.

Making small changes can help you identify what is working and what isn’t. If you change the color, text and location of a single call-to-action all at once, it will be hard to isolate what change had the biggest impact.

But if you change only the color of a button and see what happens, then you’ll be able to track the impact of that update. And make even better updates in the future.

Interested in learning more about tracking the performance of your website? Get your copy of our free guide, Website Metrics that Matter.

Carrie Jesse, Website Team Lead

Zen Planner

Carrie has a background in exercise physiology and coaching endurance athletes. Before moving to Denver with her ultra-marathon running husband, she owned her own coaching business in San Diego, CA for six years. She is a self-taught web designer and enjoys helping likeminded business owners with “their piece of the internet.” Outside of work, Carrie enjoys hiking with her husband and her corgi, Orion, as well as trail running and yoga.